Sliding In To Win: Carbon edges Judge in tournament thriller

Last spring the Dino Baseball team was picked to end up in the championship game to face Juan Diego. They did not make it out of the first round as stunned fans watched them lose both games in their home opening round. Several Carbon players returned from last season and vowed it would be different.

It was just that.

The Dinos beat Manti 5-1 in their opener Saturday and then faced off with a tough Judge Memorial team for the top seed for next week. As the Dinos fans held their breath Carbon pulled out a 15-14 victory in a dramatic seventh inning, two out, play at the plate.

In game one Dylan Vogrinec took the mound and worked through some first inning jitters to keep Manti from scoring. The Dinos posted two in the bottom of the inning and the team relaxed.

Manti struggled on the mound and the Carbon players seemed a little frustrated, swinging at marginal pitches. They were still up by three when the Templars got their first run in the fourth. Carbon answered with two of their own in the bottom of the frame. After that neither team could push anything across and carbon took the win.

Jaren McCourt was the only player with an extra base hit with a triple. Vogrinec threw a complete game. Carbon scored five runs on seven hits and two errors.

In the second game, Gage Bigelow got the start. He also struggled with his control, but Carbon dodged a bullet for three innings, keeping the Bulldogs from scoring. Colin Moynier put the Dinos on the board with a solo shot in the second. The Dinos added three in the third as they took advantage of the Judge pitcher.

The lead didn't last long as Judge teed off on Bigelow and McCourt took the mound. The Dino defense also sputtered and before the top of the fourth was over Judge had scored seven and seemed to have the momentum.

But in the bottom of the fifth it was the Dinos that exploded with three to tie it up. Then in the seventh Judge stole the lead back, going up by three. Carbon wasted no time in regaining the edge with five runs in the sixth. The fireworks continued as the Bulldogs scored another three and clung to a two run lead as the teams went into the final frame.

Both teams had gone through many hurlers on the mound and the Dinos wasted no time in tagging Judge's final pitcher. A series of singles and suddenly it was tied with two outs. Moynier stood at the plate and had two strikes on him as the Bulldog pitcher threw one in the dirt. Julian Tamllos was sent home and beat the tag to give Carbon the win.

In addition to the homer by Moynier, McCourt also blasted one over the fence as well as hitting a double. Byrce Blackburn and Vogrinec each had a two bagger as well. Carbon scored 15 runs on 15 hits with four errors.

It was a dramatically different scene from last years stunned silence at the ball field as the crowd and team exploded in celebration. Assistant Coach Dave Basinger wore a smile for the first time in the day as he headed to the post game talk with his team. "I am emotionally spent, I don't think I have anything left."

"Some games you win easy, some games you win tough and it seemed like this one was several of those games rolled into one," stated a happy coach Troy Moynier after the win, "I was frustrated with our pitching in the final game. We gave up 15 walks and it about killed us. Our kids came back not one in the game but at least three times and I am proud of that. It will hopefully give us a mental edge in the rest of the tournament."

Carbon will take on Desert Hills in the quarter final round of the double elimination tournament down at Dixie State college on Thursday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.